Clicking noise from front wheels.

[motc777]

2004 Mercury Mountaineer 4.0 FLEX. I noticed about two weeks ago that when coasting at lower speeds, say 30-45 mph, I hear a clicking noise. It's not super loud. It just goes click click click click and as I come to a slower and slower speed, it disappears.

I had my son hang his head out the window and he says it's coming from the front passenger side. Now, when this started, just a few days ago I had the wheel and front suspension off in parts while changing out my upper control arms and I didn't notice any ripping of the CV boots or anything like that. Lower ball joints look good. No ripping on the boots.

Now, I want to say, but not for sure that I heard this same clicking sound from the left side, but cannot anymore. That is because yesterday i replaced the driver's side front wheel hub because I was getting a growling noise from that side when making turns.

So what are the possibilities? I originally posted this in the 2011-2016 forum, but wasn't paying attention that it was for them, not mine. (I had done a search looking for this)

 

[motc777]

So no ideas anyone?

 

[Duranged84]

Possibly U-joint? Brake pad anti rattle clips? I would bet on u joints though. Do you know how to check them? If not I can give you a few pointers to try to track it down.

 

[Tech By Trade]

Exact symptoms with the front U joint here. They run you about 15 bucks, and are easy to change if you have a U joint tool. the rear is a CV and its a pain to get off, so it is done much easier with the drive shaft in vehicle with a U-joint press in tool.

 

[motc777]

Possibly U-joint? Brake pad anti rattle clips? I would bet on u joints though. Do you know how to check them? If not I can give you a few pointers to try to track it down.

Have no idea how to check them. Willing to learn!

 

[Duranged84]

Sorry I didnt get back to you quicker, never got a notification and have been retardedly busy. Do you still need some pointers or did ya get it figured out?

 

[motc777]

Sorry I didnt get back to you quicker, never got a notification and have been retardedly busy. Do you still need some pointers or did ya get it figured out?

No worries. yes, I still need some pointers. Don't want to throw parts at something.

 

[Duranged84]

Easiest way to check, if theyre really bad, is to crawl under and just simply grab the driveshaft and see if you can move it up and down, side to side, or front to back. If there is movement, watch the ends to see which end has movement. The front shaft is fairly short and skinny so it'll be kind of easy to check out. The downside, is that the front shaft uses 1 regular u-joint, and one CV type joint. The standard style u-joint is pretty cheap ($8-20) depending on which one you choose, and fairly easy to change with a rented u-joint press( also cheap if you take the shaft out and head to a Napa or other place that does press work/ some shops will do it and not charge rediculous prices, but most will charge too much for the simple job that it is. If its the CV end, Im not too sure how its changed on these, but I glanced at a thread about it a while back and didnt seem to much worse, but is more expensive, over $100 if I remember right. If you cant tell by doing it that way, You could go ahead and pull the front shaft, you wont lose any fluid, and it can be driven with the shaft out, so while its out, if you still cant tell by moving the joints, take it for an ride. I will warn you though that it can roll in park without the front shaft so use caution. It'll actually creep more than roll from what I understand, but still. My AWD mounty had a bad transfer case so it never rolled on me, and now it has an Explorer 4WD case as Im in the middle of a 4WD swap. If you do pull the driveshaft, it is recommended to pull the CV end first so as not to put excess stress on the CV joint from hanging. I can get some pics tomorrow and post up if you want to know where/what to look for. I have my front shaft out for a bad u-joint, and my old transmission and transfer case, and Im in the middle of pulling the front differential from my parts truck. Hope that helps, if you have any more questions or dont understand the way I worded anything, feel free to ask.

 

[motc777]

Easiest way to check, if theyre really bad, is to crawl under and just simply grab the driveshaft and see if you can move it up and down, side to side, or front to back. If there is movement, watch the ends to see which end has movement. The front shaft is fairly short and skinny so it'll be kind of easy to check out. The downside, is that the front shaft uses 1 regular u-joint, and one CV type joint. The standard style u-joint is pretty cheap ($8-20) depending on which one you choose, and fairly easy to change with a rented u-joint press( also cheap if you take the shaft out and head to a Napa or other place that does press work/ some shops will do it and not charge rediculous prices, but most will charge too much for the simple job that it is. If its the CV end, Im not too sure how its changed on these, but I glanced at a thread about it a while back and didnt seem to much worse, but is more expensive, over $100 if I remember right. If you cant tell by doing it that way, You could go ahead and pull the front shaft, you wont lose any fluid, and it can be driven with the shaft out, so while its out, if you still cant tell by moving the joints, take it for an ride. I will warn you though that it can roll in park without the front shaft so use caution. It'll actually creep more than roll from what I understand, but still. My AWD mounty had a bad transfer case so it never rolled on me, and now it has an Explorer 4WD case as Im in the middle of a 4WD swap. If you do pull the driveshaft, it is recommended to pull the CV end first so as not to put excess stress on the CV joint from hanging. I can get some pics tomorrow and post up if you want to know where/what to look for. I have my front shaft out for a bad u-joint, and my old transmission and transfer case, and Im in the middle of pulling the front differential from my parts truck. Hope that helps, if you have any more questions or dont understand the way I worded anything, feel free to ask.

I do have a question. And forgive me if this sounds ignorant.

You mentioned the driveshaft. Are you talking about that long shaft that runs from front to back that is in the middle of the vehicle underneath? Or when you mention CV are you talking about the shafts going to each wheel? If it's the latter, I do not have AWD on my model, so I don't have a transfer case up front.

Again, I'm probably not describing things right/understanding you right. LOL Thanks for the help!

 

[Duranged84]

Ok, I misunderstood based off of your first post, this actually makes tracking it down a lot more simple. Still possible you have a bad u joint on your only drive shaft. There is a u joint at each end of it. Same procedure applies, grab The shaft and try to move it any and all directions and watch for movement on either end. Have you jacked up each front wheel separately and spun it forward and backward? You stated the sound seemed to come from the front so trying to cover everything here. If you get a noise at one of the front wheels, take the wheel off and take the brake caliper off as well as pads and retainer clips etc. If noise is still there you may be looking at wheel bearing. If no noise on either front wheel and you can't tell by grabbing The drive shaft, put the rear of the truck on jackstands or ramps, block the front wheels, and remove the shaft. I believe it'll be 12 point 12mm bolts on the rear flange and will slide out of the transmission. (Raising the back only helps keep fluid from pouring out of the transmission when you remove the shaft on a 2 wheel drive. ) having the rear on jackstands, and putting it in neutral, along with a helper to hold the brakes as you turn the shaft to get to each bolt is the easiest method. Just be sure the front wheels are blocked well while you're under it.


Sorry I haven't been more help, I've been chasing my own tail the last few days between my own trucks and customers vehicles.